Family Vocabulary

Family – a group of people who are related to each other.

(Mohit was very nervous when he met his girlfriend’s family for the first time.)

Immediate family – your closest relations, such as your parents, children, husband or
wife.
(My immediate family are my dad, mum and two sisters.)

Nuclear family – parents and their children.

(The average nuclear family in the US is made up of parents and two children.)

Extended family – a family unit that includes grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, and
uncles, etc. in addition to parents and children.
(I have a large extended family with many nieces, nephews and cousins.)

Dysfunctional family – a family that is not behaving or working normally, where there
is conflict, misbehaviour, etc.
(Cynthia came from a dysfunctional family and tcould often be seen wandering the street on
her own when she was young.)

Family member – someone who belongs to a specific family.

(I have family members living all over the world.)

To be related to – to belong to the same family as.

(I’m related to many people in my village as my family has lived here for generations.)

A relative – someone who is part of your family.

(We are going to visit relatives who live on the coast for our holiday this year.)

Blood relative – someone you are related to through birth rather than marriage.
(Aunty Sylvia is my blood relative but Uncle George, her husband, is only related to me by
marriage.)

Distant relative – generally, a relative who is a third cousin or greater, or a great

aunt or uncle, especially when you have little or no involvement with him or her.
(A member of my family died last week but they were a distant relative and I didn’t know
them very well.)
 Imediate family Extended family
father mother parent
uncle aunt niece nephew cousin
husband wife spounse
grandparents grandfather grandmother
son daughter brother sister
grandchildren grandson granddaughter
sibling child children kids
great-grandmother great-grandfather

Other words
motherhood fatherhood childhood
a widow a widower an only child
childcare teenager adolescent
older generation younger generation
old age elderly single parent
twins triplets quadruplets

In-laws Stepfamilies
mother-in-law father-in-law stepmother stepfather
son-in-law daughter-in-law stepson stepdaughter stepsister
brother-in-law sister-in-law stepbrother half-sister half-brother

Some verbs and other vocabulary

to raise (a child) / to bring up (a child)
to support (a family)
to give birth
to start a family
to adopt
to foster
to look after
to desert
to care for
to look alike
to fall out with / to have a falling out or an argument
to follow in someone’s footsteps
get on with / get along with
family background
sibling rivalry
spitting image
wear the trousers
black sheep (of the family)
family gathering / family get-together
run in the family
breadwinner
 Sentences
- Sakda is taking the responsibilities of fatherhood seriously and now only goes out drinking with
his friends once a month.

- Billy and I are planning to start a family as soon as we get married.

- It was a special moment in Cesar’s life when he saw his wife giving birth to their first child.

- It’s a big responsibility raising children but I love being a parent.

- Egor earned very low wages and had to work two jobs to support his family.

- In many countries, men are expected to be the breadwinner in a family.

- Paul and Siri were unable to have children of their own and decided to adopt a baby.

- Many children in the world do not have a happy childhood.

- My twin sister and I look alike and people often call us by each other’s names.

- I want to follow in my father’s footsteps and become a doctor like he is.

- My dad likes to thinks that he’s in charge but it’s my mother who wears the trousers in our house.

- My brother first started getting into trouble with the police when he was a teenager and he’s
become the black sheep of the family.

- My mother died last year so my father is now a widower.

- In my country, sons and daughters are expected to care for their elderly parents.

My father deserted us when I was young and my mother has brought me up on her own.

- We want our son to marry a girl from a good family background.

Artistic ability seems to run in the family.

- I fell out with my sister when she started dating my boyfriend.

- I'm going to look after my little sister on Saturday.

- I used to fight with my siblings when we were young but I get along with them really well now that
we’re adults